despite the leadership with the queen. what is our best chance, niall ferguson, in the next decade, for greatness, to put the great back in britain? well, i don't think the rest of the world expects greatness from post—brexit britain. i think light relief, comedy, those are the things that we have excelled at, rather like popular music. the paradox of britain is that we have got steadily worse at doing things like trade agreements, complex negotiations, ultimately brexit happened because a complex negotiation with the european union about britain's special status went horribly wrong for david cameron, and i think the negotiations of the divorce are also going pretty wrong, because david davis is not a match for michel barnier. luckily, we are still very good at entertainment and pretty good at most forms of culture, and that is why people will continue to come to london, expecting to be entertained and amused by our politicians. and they will be coming

to lots of other cities throughout the united kingdom! that's all for this evening, but we leave you with the finalists of the 2017 comedy wildlife photography awards. pretty self—explanatory, really. good night. music: "close to you" by jacob collier # why do birds suddenly appear? # every time you are near #just like me # they long to be...# hello and welcome to sports day. the

whacker centurions club grows as england stays ahead in the crucial third test. a win at sheffield wednesday sends the team to the top there's tennis news as aljaz bedene — the british number two — switches his allegiance back to the country of his birth, slovenia. lots to tell you about this evening but we can start with cricket and the crucial test in perth where

england start 200 runs ahead but needing quick wickets to stay in the series. steve smith is 92 not out and his wicket will be key when play resumes in a few hours time. it is day one of this test match belonged to england to be too long to australia. it did not seem that we add first as malan and bairstow continued their partnership. tesco had bided his helmet to celebrate his century, a reference to an incident in perth. but when malan finally went for m0, the rest of the batting collapse horribly. the last few wickets were lost for just 35 runs. they will feel as if they should have gotten much more than that. the bowlers said about to prepare “— that. the bowlers said about to prepare —— repair the damage. a half

century for usman khawaja and steve smith turn things around in australia's favoured. no doubt, england's man of the day with his century. these were his thoughts afterwards. 100, that 100 was my favourite. i have played in a few ashes series and to score 100 in the ashes series and to score 100 in the ashes are something you dream about asa kid. ashes are something you dream about as a kid. it has eluded me until now and there were many emotions that came through and it was light—hearted fun with everything that has been going on. australia will feel they are right back in this. will usman khawaja had a half—ce ntu ry this. will usman khawaja had a half—century that turned things around. he said afterwards he was surprised at the speed. it is not an

easy place to bat, particularly as the tail end of. we knew we got one wicket we would be a chance but the boys bowled quite well to restrict england to 400 and i think that was a good effort. a good day for australia. steve smith is very much the key man. 92 not out going into day three. if he gets a big century, australia will still be hopeful of securing a first—innings lead and a chance to win the match. the walls are now seven points clear after defeating sheffield wednesday. this terrific strike was enough to seal the win. he showed why he is the most expensive player ever signed by a championship club. they believe they spend around £15 million for him. a packed weekend of

premier league action to come. manchester city playtime in the late kickoff tomorrow. they have dominated the season so far 15 consecutive wins. can anyone stop them? arsenal, consecutive wins. can anyone stop them ? arsenal, chelsea, consecutive wins. can anyone stop them? arsenal, chelsea, liverpool and manchester united have all tried and manchester united have all tried and failed at tottenham spurs have history on their side. mid- mid— december and manchester city are moving from probably uncatchable to possibly invincible. today they play the spurs, the only team in the top six they have not yet faced. be dispatched manchester united last week. can they emulate arsenal in 2004 and have an unbeaten season? we are going to be, we will lose games. we just need to type lady better and

better. —— tried to play better and better. —— tried to play better and better. manchester city have now won 15 straight matches and picking up 49 from 51 points in the process. enough to finish eighth in the league last season. if they win two more matches before christmas they will average 2.89 points per % --: stop % 3-1 st°p they ended ca n tottenha m sto chhe-"n ? they and edr= unbeaten ce n tottenhe m sto chhe-"n 2 they end edr= unbeaten run at ce n tattenhe m std chhe-"n 2 they end ed= unbeaten run at the end of last the unbeaten run at the end of last season and their boss likes a challenge. i think we will play, for me, the best team in europe and england today. it is exciting. a massive challenge. you always want this sort of challenge. manchester city are already being compared to the 1961 hot spurs side. history is

one thing. this christmas, manchester city and their manager are still focusing on the present. that match at 530 tomorrow night. ulster defeated harlequins for the second time in six days in the champions cup. six different players scored a try in the 52— 24 victory in belfast. harlequins kept the score down to 16— 12 at half time. they have not won in europe this season although they did take away a

bonus point. ulster are second in nepal and have a good chance of qualifying for the quarter—finals. —— second in the pool. five nil thrashing byjohn higgins at the scottish open. 0'sullivan has won three ranking titles including the uk championship but he lost without winning a frame against the home favourite. the scotsman plays neil robinson next in the semifinals. the last time i whitewashed him was 1994. played in the quarter—finals so... there is hope for me. britain's number two tennis player, aljaz bedene is switching back to its country of birth. he took british nationality in 2015 but a

rule change meant he has never been allowed to represent britain in the davis cup or the olympics. his big ambition is to play the tokyo olympics and he has realised that the age of 28 his best to put the british passport in the draw and ta ke british passport in the draw and take up the slovenian one. i don't detect any bitterness. just frustration over his lack of communication and the opaque nature of his responses about his future intentions. ultimately it is a plan that has not worked out. the former head of cycling's international governing body has told the bbc that chris froome's adverse drug test is a disaster for the sport that could lose tea m a disaster for the sport that could lose team sky it could ability. chris froome has won the tour de france four times was found to have

elevated levels of an asthma drug. the president of the uci to eight yea rs the president of the uci to eight years said it will be hard for the britain to avoid a ban. it is phil taylor's last ever world darts championship. he is aiming for a 17th title before retiring. he was tested in his first round match against a fellow englishman but he went through three sets—1 at alexandra palace. that is all from sports today tonight. saturday is going to be another cold day across the country but by the time we reach sunday things will turn milder. we still get some wintry pictures in from parts of the

country. there is still some snow lying around here and there. i think the real story for the next few days will be for the cloud amount to increase and rather than smelly leftovers it will turn green and grey a cross leftovers it will turn green and grey across the uk. through the weekend there will be milder off the atla ntic weekend there will be milder off the atlantic and the wind will freshen, temperatures will reach double figures. saturday will still be quite a cold day. frost develops other across the country. there are clear skies and by the early hours of saturday morning in some rural areas could drop to minus six celsius. in the city centre, around minus two, depending on where you are. this saturday. a chilly start with lots of sunshine. crisp winter weather out there for most of us, particularly northern, eastern and southern areas. notice that across parts of the south—west here, the weather will turn a little more cloudy and possible spots of rain.

it will not be heavy but it will be cloudy and dull in some areas for a time. on saturday afternoon, what is left of the sunshine by that stage, the best of the weather eastern and western. still cold you can see the temperature only two or three degrees in the course of the afternoon. the change begins on saturday night into sunday. what happens is with rory and a south—westerly wind. that wind will blow in weather fronts, cloud and rain as well so the weather will go downhill on sunday. very early in the morning we will see an increasing and rain across western areas and by mid—morning it should be right across the south. temperatures reaching ten or 11 in the south and even glasgow reaching 10 celsius as well. that weather front is then out of the way for monday and high pressure builds. that means the weather is expected to dry out. on monday, i think, bright weather and temperatures

reaching around six or eight degrees. south—westerly wind kick in on tuesday and temperatures could reach 12, possibly 14 degrees across parts of scotland. this is the next week summery. first part looks dry and mild but it will often be on the cloudy side. saturday ‘s cold and thenit cloudy side. saturday ‘s cold and then it starts improving. this is bbc world news, i'm lucy grey. our top stories: austria becomes the only western country in europe with a far—right party in power — the conservatives reach a deal with the anti—immigration freedom party. the un warns that the united states under donald trump is becoming the "world champion of inequality". brexit negotiations are moving on. eu leaders give the green light for talks to proceed to phase two, but warn the next stage will be even tougher. and save the date — prince harry and meghan markle have

announced they'll wed at windsor castle on 19 may.